Mini-Review: Edgar Allan Poe Graphic Novels

Nevermore: A Graphic Adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's Short Stories edited by Dan Whitehead

When I saw these graphic novels at the library, I thought they would be a great addition to my classic a month. I think I actually enjoyed these more than reading the stories straight. I hope schools take advantage of these kind of books to get students interested in the classics more, I think it's a great tool. Anyway, I only read the stories I was familiar with, so this won't be super long.

The Raven was a straight adaptation, but with artwork added in. For me, this was a perfect way to do the poem...I mean, what more could you add to it? The Murders in the Rue Morgue had a steampunk/industrial twist to it and made the orangutan into a more literal character, which was odd. The Tell-Tale Heart creeped me out in a different way than the original. The artist seemed to just get inspiration from the story and decided to completely remake it. I enjoyed it, but like the original, I wanted more. I wanted to know Annie and Mr Tate's back stories.

(Click to make bigger for more detail)

And then there's The Black Cat. I was glad the artist went in a different direction with this one; I did not want to read that again. When I first read the original, I pictured a larger than normal black cat, so the circus theme worked for me. This wasn't nearly as disturbing as the original, but still seemed to have that underlying theme of guilt and desperation. And, okay I will admit this, just for you guys: When I took this picture it was just because I liked the wagon and the cat bush...I didn't see all the other hidden cats until I went back and looked at it just now lol. How many do you see? (I saw 15) Augh! I just saw another one on the next page! Stop tricking me!

Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe edited by Tom Pomplun

This series seemed more kid-friendly than the other, the drawings are much more childish (not the actual drawing, but the style) and more rounded, if you know what I mean. Where's Claudia Kishi to help with art terms when you need her??

I didn't enjoy this version of The Raven nearly as much as the first. It was incredibly basic and actually just seemed to show some stock drawings of Poe.  I liked the more literal version of The Tell-Tale Heart, but the characters' faces all looked like they were made out of mashed potatoes. Yeah, I don't know.

This book only had two of the stories I read, so I flipped thru a few extra too. But I didn't find any that interested me :p except for this picture. Happy after-Halloween everybody!! I hope you aren't all in sugar comas today! :)